It's a tendency as we grow older to think of people we knew earlier in life as frozen in time, as if they never grew or matured or added to their resume.
I’m guilty of that with Serra High’s much-decorated basketball coach, who though he’s a grown man now with an eye-opening list of accomplishments will always partially be “little Chuck Rapp” to me -- the kid from my grammar school in San Bruno who played for a guy named Dwayne Kilgore. Bobby Christensen was the star of that team and both Christensen and Rapp later became Serra assistant coaches.
It didn't occur to me back in the day that Rapp would someday join the list of iconic Serra coaches who built their success on a foundation of patient offense and gritty man defense – men like Frank Nolan, Pat McGlennon, Jim Brovelli, Pete Newell Jr. and John Grosey.
Following Serra’s brilliant 48-43 state Division II basketball title win against Long Beach Poly on Saturday, Rapp has equaled anything his predecessors did at Serra and surpassed it, winning the school’s first state title in any sport (the baseball program was named state team of the year twice by Cal-Hi Sports, but those are mythical titles).
Winning a state basketball title is incredibly difficult. Serra’s state championship this season is the result of skill, sweat and resolve, yes, but also good fortune.
When Serra lost to rival Bellarmine College Prep in the CCS Open semifinals and wound up with the No. 1 seed in the Division II NorCal Regional, while Half Moon Bay nabbed the top seed in Division IV I mused about it with HMB coach Rich Forslund.
“Serra did a nice job tanking that game to Bellarmine, didn’t they?” I joked to Forslund. Forslund laughed and said Serra’s loss also benefited his team, pushing powerhouse Salesian into the Open Division where HMB would not have to deal with it.
Last year the Padres won the CCS Open title and would have had to beat Moreau Catholic, Modesto Christian, Bishop O’Dowd and Mater Dei in succession to win the state title. It knocked off Moreau, but good luck with the rest of it – the Padres lost a close game to Modesto Christian in the regional semis to end their season.
This year was different. Placed in the more winnable Division II, the Padres played programs more on their level and excelled, due to their ability and toughness, and Rapp’s coaching.
Back-tracking even further, contemplate the fact peninsula basketball stars Eddie Stansberry, Tyler Garlitos, Taiga Schwarz and Drew Healy were all in the Serra program as freshmen. If any of those players (especially Stansberry) had remained on West 20th Avenue playing for Rapp, would it have meant a deeper CCS run for Serra and a berth in the virtually un-winnable Open Division where the monster that was Chino Hills awaited? Perhaps.
As it was, that starting lineup of Jake Killingsworth, Jeremiah Testa, Lee Jones, Miles Todzo and John Besse battled the teams put before it, and prevailed.
"We peaked at the just the right time," Rapp said in the post-game presser. "The credit goes to all the guys. They did all the heavy lifting. This is a historic win we'll remember for the rest of our lives."
Nicely done by “little Chuck” and the lads.
MORE STATE FINALS: I didn’t make it to Sacramento for the state championships, choosing to watch the games on TV while I got some other work done. The Cajon-San Bernardino girls met Elk Grove in the Division II title game and it was nice to see Mark Lehman coach again. I covered Lehman’s Cajon teams when I was in Southern California and the Cowgirls have long been a solid program, most notably when Layshia Clarendon (later of Cal) played there.
Until Cajon’s victory against Elk Grove on Saturday, the high point of Lehman’s tenure was probably a stunning, Clarendon-led upset of host Mater Dei several years ago. Lehman coached a San Jose boys team decades ago, by the way, but I cannot recall which one.
Regarding mercurial Open boys champ Chino Hills, I tuned in late to the game between the Huskies and De La Salle and was surprised De La Salle was very much in the game at 30-30. Distracted momentarily by a home project, I lost track of the contest and when I looked up Chino Hills was leading 42-30! Simply amazing, as Lonzo Ball’s second-half, one-handed slam dunk off a lob pass illustrated.
Enjoy your national title, Huskies.
John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@prep2prep.com and followed on Twitter @PrepCat
